Thoughts, musings and commentary on stories from the developing world

The takeover bid by Kraft to buy out Cadbury spells the end of 186 years of the beloved brand. It will be sad to see the end of one of the last independent British companies, the deal brings fears of job losses, and could mean the end of wholesome family values that have driven the company for well over a century.

There are fears that Kraft will abandon Cadbury’s commitment to Fair Trade, with so far only a token gesture made towards sustainably sourced cocoa from Rainforest Alliance plantations. Having entered into a huge amount of debt just to buy out Cadbury, cutbacks will sadly be inevitable. At the very least I hope that Kraft will keep the Fair Trade commitment, and not see it as a token gesture of corporate social responsibility.

However, to look on the bright side, the media frenzy over the takeover bid has resulted in some classic chocolate based puns: ‘Cadbury Flakes in face of Kraft bid’, ‘despite a Wispa in the ear’ from Lord Mandelson, and even an awful play on words by the Guardian ‘America’s Kraft is to gobble up Cadbury’.

I just hope that quality doesn’t deteriorate, the Bournville dark chocolate bar is still my favourite, and I would hate for that to end up tasting like cheese.